(TheRedWire.com) – New York Attorney General Letitia James campaigned for office largely in part on a promise to target Donald Trump. Lo and behold, that’s exactly what she did once she assumed office. The case recently went south when James filed documents pushing for contempt charges, but the former president is firing back.
On Tuesday, April 19,Trump and his legal representative, Alina Habba, responded to James’ effort in a court filing, asking the court to vacate James’ April 7 petition to hold him in contempt for failing to comply with a New York Supreme Court Justice’s order to produce documents by the appointed deadline.
On February 17, Justice Arthur Engoron ruled Trump would need to comply “in full” with James’ subpoena for documents and information with a compliance deadline no later than March 31. Trump and his counsel agreed to the terms at that time and didn’t subsequently file any objections. In Tuesday’s filing, Habba contended the businessman fulfilled Justice Engoron’s order and the subpoena because Trump had no documentation in his possession to turn over to James.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is urging a New York court to reject state Attorney General Letitia James' bid to hold him in contempt, saying he does not have documents she subpoenaed and accusing her of turning the dispute into a public spectacle https://t.co/BYsd6qkMUm pic.twitter.com/FflzVNSyxI
— Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) April 20, 2022
Instead, Habba suggested James filed the contempt charge as a publicity stunt, knowing she had the required documentation in the thousands of documents and more than 6 million pages that the Trump Organization already provided. For his part, the former president has called the AG’s investigation politically motivated. On Easter Sunday, through his press secretary Liz Harrington, Trump tweeted a Happy Easter to James, simultaneously calling her a racist and alluding to her failed campaign for governor. He repeated the message on Monday, April 18.
NEW!
President Donald J. Trump:
“Happy Easter to failed gubernatorial candidate and racist Attorney General Letitia James. May she remain healthy despite the fact that she will continue to drive business out of New York while at the same time keeping crime, death, and… pic.twitter.com/X22xhcDdEX
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) April 17, 2022
Judge Engoron scheduled oral arguments regarding the contempt charge for Monday, April 25. It seems likely there will be more back and forth between AG James and former President Trump.
Stay tuned, this is a developing story
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